Sodium Tally Sheet
Sodium and salt are different numbers. Multiply sodium by 2.5 to get salt.
BFCBrilliance · bfcbrilliance.com/tools/daily-sodium-intake-calculator
The conversions and limits
- SALT = SODIUM x 2.5
- salt is only ~40% sodium by mass
- 1 g salt
- 400 mg sodium
- 1 level teaspoon salt
- about 6 g
- WHO ADULT LIMIT
- under 2,000 mg sodium = under 5 g salt
- That is
- just under a teaspoon of salt a day
- Children 2-15
- adult figure adjusted DOWN by energy needs
- Global average 2021
- 4,278 mg sodium — 11 g salt
- ⚠ Most sodium is already IN food
- not from the cellar — bread, sauces, cured meat
- ⚠ Linked to
- raised BP, CVD, gastric cancer, kidney disease
Today's tally
| Food | Portion | Sodium mg | or Salt g | Running total | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This day
- Date
- Sodium from labels
- Salt from labels
- Salt added
- TOTAL SODIUM mg
- AS SALT g
- My limit
- % of limit
- Over by
- Biggest single source
- What I will swap
Reading labels without being caught out
- Checked whether the label says SODIUM or SALT before comparing anything
- Multiplied sodium by 2.5 to get salt, or divided salt by 2.5 for sodium
- Used the PER PORTION figure, not per 100 g, unless the portion is 100 g
- Counted bread, sauces, cheese and cured meat — the quiet contributors
- Restaurant and takeaway meals estimated rather than ignored
- Compared against the limit AND against the global average for context
- Any clinician-given target used instead of the general one
- Looked at what to BUY differently rather than only at the salt cellar
The two-and-a-half-fold trap
Salt is sodium chloride and only about 40% of its mass is sodium, so 5 g of salt is 2,000 mg of sodium. Labels differ by country — some list sodium in milligrams, some list salt in grams — and comparing one against a guideline written in the other is a 2.5x error in whichever direction you make it. Check which unit you are reading before you compare anything.
It is mostly not the cellar
In most diets the majority of sodium is already inside processed and packaged food — bread, sauces, cured meats, cheese, ready meals, soups and snacks — rather than added at the table. That is why this sheet reports the share that came from salt you added: it is usually small, and it means reducing intake is mostly about what you buy.